Wynn Chan (#7) of Outram scored the winning goal to secure his school’s first ever B Division title. The Outram captain scored two goals in the final. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
PESEB, MOE (Evans Road), Wednesday, April 3, 2013 – Outram Secondary stunned favourites and three-time defending champions Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 6–5 to win the National B Division Water Polo Championship for the first time in their school’s history. Also noteworthy was that Outram achieved the feat with a goalkeeper, Muhammad Syafiie, who is hearing impaired.
“I think it’s good for their belief, their self worth, that they can achieve despite heavy odds stacked against them. This is the same group that lost two years ago by a score of 15–0 (to ACS(I)). So it was a thrashing. So you can imagine the kind of self belief this has inculcated,” said Sukhdev Singh, vice-principal of Outram.
In recent years, the national schools B Division water polo championships have seen either ACS(I) or their brother school ACS (Barker Rd) win the gold. Since 2005, ACS(I) have won it five times while ACS (Barker) captured the crown three times in a row from 2007 to 2009.
Outram made the B Division finals twice before in 1993 and 1994 but had to settle for silver on both occasions. Since then, Outram have never made another B Division final until today.
The win is all the more remarkable because this same batch of Outram players were thrashed 15–0 by their ACS(I) counterparts two years ago in the C Division final. When the two teams met earlier in the preliminary rounds, ACS(I) also won that encounter 10–6.
“It definitely gave us the drive to win this one, to win the championship,” said Glen Lim, the Outram vice-captain, in reference to the 10-6 loss to ACS(I). “Even though we were down in the third quarter, we were composed enough to come up again. The intensity of the team was strong enough to beat the other team.”
ACS(I) led 2–1 after the first six minutes, getting their goals from Daren Ong (#6) and Gordon Chen (#10) while Glen Lim (#8) kept Outram in the hunt with one.
The second quarter saw Outram outscore ACS(I) 3–1, with Damien Wong (#3) scoring two and teammate Wynn Chan (#7) adding the other. Isa (#2) scored to make sure that ACS(I) only trailed by one goal at 3–4 as both team headed into the half-time break.
ACS(I) kept Outram scoreless in the second half as Gordon Chen (#10) equalised to make it 4–4 to set up a climactic final quarter with everything still to play for.
In the final quarter, Outram took a 5–4 lead through Sean Toh (#9). But the defending champions were not done. Daren Ong (#6) scored to tie the game up again.
With tension rising in the spectator stands, Wynn Chan sent Outram spectators into raptures when he scored what proved to be the winning goal and this time, there was no coming back for ACS(I).
It was an especially sweet win for Kuah Kar Huat, the Outram coach who is also an old boy of the school. He represented Outram in water polo in 1989 and ’90 and won the A Division title with them.
“We have never won anything before in the past. We were in the (B Division) final twice in 1993 and 1994. We have never won. This is the first time that we have won. I happened to be around in 1993 and 1994. I’m happy that at least I finally get to see that we won one,” said a completely drenched coach Kuah who was thrown into the pool by his squad in celebration.
“From the school itself, the support was fantastic from all the teachers. And I think one of the biggest factors we have, I have to say this, is the best parents support group. If not, we’ll never be here, because the parents give more than 100 percent support.
“And of course, the boys were committed and worked doubly hard than anyone else. I think they deserve this. They believed they could do, and they have done it,” added coach Kuah.
Jonas Lai, vice-captain of Outram, was proud of his team’s fighting spirit.
“All of us performed as a team. Even when we were down, we pushed each other. We were down by one at one point but came back up to win. So it’s a very good thing. We have shown our fighting spirit to everyone and finally got our gold for the first time,” said Jonas.
For Outram captain Wynn Chan, it has been a transformation for him and his teammates since getting thrashed 15–0 by ACS(I) two years ago.
“Feels like finally hard work has paid off,” said Wynn, in recollecting the journey from that thrashing to this championship win.
“We were always thinking it was possible. We kept emphasising to ourselves, saying, “We can do it! We can do it!”
Did he feel that his team would not win it at any point in the final?
“No, because I was enjoying the game all the way. Because I tell myself to.”
When asked about the historic nature of the win, Wynn’s response was an emphatic, “Great! Extremely great!”
It turned out the team had not made any plans on how to celebrate the title win.
“No, but we can work something out,” said a smiling Wynn.
Score by Quarter
ACS(I) vs Outram
1st Q: 2–1
2nd Q: 3–4
3rd Q: 4–4
4th Q: 5–6
Scorers
Outram
Damien Wong (#3) – 2 goals
Wynn Chan (#7) – 2
Sean Toh (#9) – 1
Glen Lim (#8) – 1
ACS(I)
Isa (#2) – 1 goal
Daren Ong (#6) – 2
Gordon Chen (#10) – 2
Outram Roster
Muhammad Syafiie (#1), Tan Jong Yang (#2), Damien Wong (#3), Jonas Lai (#4), Khoo Kean Sheng (#5), Nicholas Yeo (#6), Wynn Chan (#7, capt), Lim En Rui, Glen (#8), Sean Toh (#9), Sean Toh (#9), Nicholas Tan (#10), Gabriel Lee (#11), Darren Koh (#12), Ryan Yam (#13)
ACS(I) Roster
Ryan Phua (#1), Isa (#2, capt), Steven Toh (#3), Joshua Soo (#4), Gary Lee (#5), Daren Ong (#6), Daniel Tan (#7), Francis Tan (#8), Luke Chan (#9), Gordon Chen (#10), Darren Cheng (#11), Zachary Quek (#12), Efren Tan (#13)
National B Division Results
HCI 2 ACS(I) 8
ACS (Barker) 8 Outram 11
RI 9 St Andrew’s 2
Outram 7 RI 2
ACS (Barker) 7 HCI 5
St Andrew’s 3 ACS(I) 8
Outram 9 HCI 4
ACS (Barker) 12 St Andrew’s 5
RI 3 ACS(I) 12
St Andrew’s 6 HCI 5
ACS (Barker) 7 ACS(I) 10
Outram 8 St Andrew’s 4
RI 3 HCI 3
Outram 6 ACS(I) 10
ACS (Barker) 9 RI 9
ACS (Barker) 4 RI 7 (bronze playoff)
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[…] Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Outram Secondary made history when they beat Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 6–5 to win their first ever National B Division Water Polo […]